DoctorDaveT

Thanks.

Pastor Markle,
Thanks for the good post. I have recently preached from Luke's version of this account. Like most Christians I know, prophecy is a favorite topic of mine.
May I quibble with one point? Matt 24:15 mentions The Abomination of Desolation. According to Premillennial eschatology, that takes place in the middle of the Tribulation period (near to exactly, depending on which measurement of time you reckon by). That means that everything that occurs prior to v15 is "pre-Middle of the Tribulation" and not "pre-Tribulation."
What I find so interesting about that is this: in this passage, Jesus doesn't give a time stamp as to when the Tribulation begins. His time stamp starts with the mid-point of the Tribulation. So the events before hand could be first half trib, or events leading up to and into the first half of the trib - which is how I see it.
Like you probably (can't quote you on this yet), but I believe we're in the last days of the last days. The political and social events that describe the Tribulation aren't going to start like a flipped light switch in a dark room. Rather, they are going to simply be a continued increase in darkness; but so much more when the salt and light of the church are removed.
From a practical standpoint, I give a hearty "amen" to your sermon notes. Thanks much for the encouragement to stand and to continue with our responsibility of living out our faith. Times are about to get hard.

This past Sunday evening I presented a message from Matthew 24:4-14 entitled, "Expect These Things."  The theme of the message was that we New Testament believers should expect certain things to occur throughout this time of the church age.  In Matthew 24:4-14 our Lord provided a prophetic utterance concerning things that SHALL occur.  He was not speaking concerning the future Tribulation Period, for He does not speak concerning that until Matthew 24:15.  Rather, He was speaking concerning the time period in which we are at the very present -- the time period of the New Testament church.  What then should we expect throughout this present time?
1.  Circumstantial Crises 
     "And ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars: SEE THAT YE BE NOT TROUBLED: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.  For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in diverse places."
2.  Religious Persecution
     "Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations FOR MY NAME'S SAKE."
3.  Societal Violence (Hatred)
    "And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another."  (Grammatical Note:  In the previous verse our Lord spoke about "them" hating "you," that is -- us believers.  However, in the present verse our Lord spoke about "many" hating "one another."  Thus I believe that grammatically our Lord was speaking about two different scenarios -- (1) Those of the world hating faithful believers in verse 9 and (2) those of the world hating one another in verse 10.)
4.  Doctrinal Falsehood
     "And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many." 
     Even as our Lord's opening warning -- "Take heed that no man deceive you.  For manyshall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many."
5.  Abounding Iniquity
     "And because iniquity shall abound."
6.  Spiritual Compromise
     "The love of many shall wax cold."  (Note: We ourselves should take warning that we NOT yield unto the spiritual compromise of worldliness, even as many other believers around us may.  Rather, we should be among those who abide faithful "unto the end," even as our Lord encouraged in verse 13.)
7.  Continuing Responsibility
    "And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come."  (Note: Not matter what among the above things we may actually face in our own experience, our responsibility to preach the gospel unto the lost of this world ever continues.)
 
I pray that this little Bible study message may be "good to the use of edifying," and that it will not detract from the purpose of the original posting.

This question requires a discussion of sheol/hades and what happened following the crucifixion. [Sorry of this post seems long; trust me, I'm condensing to get to this....]
Prior to the crucifixion, sheol (Heb word from OT)/hades (Greek word, equivalent to sheol from NT) was the place of the departed. Jesus describes this place with a great gulf fixed between the righteous ("Paradise") and wicked side ("Hell") in the story of Lazarus in Luke 16. Immediately following the crucifixion, Jesus went into sheol and "lead captivity captive" (Eph 4:8-10). This is when Jesus took "Paradise" out of sheol and all of the righteous were taken to Heaven, God's abode. Sheol is now only the place of the departed damned. Someday, sheol will be emptied out, never to be repopulated. At that day, all of those inhabitants will stand at the Great White Throne Judgment, and will be cast eternally into the Lake of Fire (Rev 20:11-15). With that in mind, did Jesus burn in Hell?
Was His death on the cross enough to purchase eternal redemption? Heb 9 says "yes." Did He have to burn in hell for our redemption? Heb 9 suggests "no." Was He in hell, preaching to spirits in prison? IPe 3:19 says "yes" (if "prison" means "hell") But with the above understanding of hell/sheol, preaching in hell/sheol doesn't require fire. While I recognize we may not all agree with this answer, No, Jesus didn't (nor did He have to) burn in Hell. Leading captivity captive, He went to Paradise.

This question requires a discussion of sheol/hades and what happened following the crucifixion. [Sorry of this post seems long; trust me, I'm condensing to get to this....]
Prior to the crucifixion, sheol (Heb word from OT)/hades (Greek word, equivalent to sheol from NT) was the place of the departed. Jesus describes this place with a great gulf fixed between the righteous ("Paradise") and wicked side ("Hell") in the story of Lazarus in Luke 16. Immediately following the crucifixion, Jesus went into sheol and "lead captivity captive" (Eph 4:8-10). This is when Jesus took "Paradise" out of sheol and all of the righteous were taken to Heaven, God's abode. Sheol is now only the place of the departed damned. Someday, sheol will be emptied out, never to be repopulated. At that day, all of those inhabitants will stand at the Great White Throne Judgment, and will be cast eternally into the Lake of Fire (Rev 20:11-15). With that in mind, did Jesus burn in Hell?
Was His death on the cross enough to purchase eternal redemption? Heb 9 says "yes." Did He have to burn in hell for our redemption? Heb 9 suggests "no." Was He in hell, preaching to spirits in prison? IPe 3:19 says "yes" (if "prison" means "hell") But with the above understanding of hell/sheol, preaching in hell/sheol doesn't require fire. While I recognize we may not all agree with this answer, No, Jesus didn't (nor did He have to) burn in Hell. Leading captivity captive, He went to Paradise.